Introduction of the Archimedean Screw Pump to East Asia during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

A key insight from this study is the early adoption of the Archimedean screw pump for gold mining on Sado Island, Japan, as early as 1637, predating its widespread use elsewhere in East Asia. The research reveals that this technology was introduced through Jesuit efforts, notably by Sabatino de Ursis and Xu Guangqi, who published Hydraulic Methods of the Far West (1612), China's first book on Western water-lifting devices. While limited in impact in China and Korea, the screw pump became crucial for draining mines in Sado Island, a fact only recognized in the West in the late 1800s via hand-colored scrolls detailing Japanese mining practices. The study reconstructs this historical transmission by analyzing these scrolls against the manufacturing instructions from the 1612 text.

Koenig, A. (2020). Introduction of the Archimedean Screw Pump to East Asia during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Chinese Annals of History of Science and Technology, 4(1), 102–138. https://doi.org/10.3724/sp.j.1461.2020.01102